The invention relates to a parlor game for amusement and entertainment and more particularly to a new board game which combines the elements of skill and chance. Skillful use of playing position and playing cards against other players as well as the element of luck determines whether the daring jewel thief escapes and, therefore, wins the game or whether the thief is discovered before escape by an opposing player, the latter then winning the game.
A variety of board games have been well known and extremely popular for many years with both young and old alike. Such games as Monopoly (Darrow U.S. Pat. No. 2,026,082 issued Dec. 31, 1935) has been consistently popular over a long period of time. The game, of course, is related to the sale, purchase and rental of real estate in accordance with rules of the game and movement of the game pieces. Still others of a wide variety of prior art board games are well known of which the following are merely exemplary and not exhaustive: Airline Ownership and Travel Game to Escott U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,818 (1989); Travel Game Arrangement to Charney U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,195 (1986); Golf Board Game Apparatus to Bynam U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,442 (1978); Franchise Board Game to Rosenberg U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,882 (1977) and Board Game Apparatus to Malisow U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,954 (1975).
The game "Bal Masque" in accordance with my invention takes place at a masked ball held at a chateau in France. It is known that a priceless jewel has been stolen from a guest and that the thief is also a guest and has not yet escaped. The object of the game is to catch the thief before he or she escapes. If the thief manages to escape without being caught, he or she wins the game. Of course, if an opposing player catches the thief before he or she escapes, then that player is the winner.
The game according to my invention includes a board, the center of which represents the ballroom floor with multicolored spaces in the form of a progressive substantially spiral path about the board over which the player's masked characters are moved. Surrounding the ballroom floor on the board are four adjoining rooms which the characters may choose to visit or may be required to visit while at the ball. The game apparatus, in addition to the board and player characters, includes five sets of cards (121 Harlequin, 24 Suspect, 21 Clue, 11 "One Who Knows", as well as 5 Thief cards); twenty-four character playing pieces (assigned in pairs to the players); as well as diamond shaped tokens (used as currency) and two dice.
The Thief cards are used to inform one of the players that he or she will be moving the thief. The Suspect cards are distributed to the players and in the case of the player moving the thief, that player is informed by the card which specific character has been designated as the thief. As to the other players, the Suspect card simply indicates which character must be brought into play first. The player declared the "One Who Knows" as determined at the beginning of the game by that player rolling the highest number on the dice is, among other things, the banker, and the player designated to distribute the cards. Additionally, such a player may select for himself alone a single "One Who Knows" card and may without disclosing its message at the time of drawing, use it during the course of a game.
Harlequin cards are distributed nine at a time face down to each of the players and are turned over and read aloud one at a time in the course of play. It is these cards which generally direct the play of the game by directing the player forward or backward on the ballroom progressive path or directing the player to roll one or both dice for a particular purpose. Additionally, such cards may be sold under certain conditions and may additionally contain special indicia which would affect the value of the cards with regard to the players.
As aforementioned, the game additionally includes Clue cards which may be purchased one at a time by any of the players as an alternative to taking a Harlequin card at their normal turn. Such cards, however, may not be used until a later turn, and the purchase of such cards is at the buyer's risk. That is to say, instructions on the card, although not read aloud until used, may be for the benefit of the thief or may be for the benefit of the other players.
During the course of a game the objective for the player moving the thief is to move the thief character to the center space of the ballroom floor without being caught. Said center space leads to freedom for the thief through dungeons to a secret tunnel under the moat and thus freedom. Under such circumstances, the thief obviously wins the game. However, if an opposing player catches the thief before an escape is made, that player is declared the winner. As the player moving the thief, a decision regarding strategy must be made as to whether to strike out boldly for the center space and thus run the risk of alerting the other players to the thief's identity or to employ a different strategy involving false leads and the like for the purpose of confusing the other players. As to the player designated the "One Who Knows", the strategy is to decide whether to use the special card early, hoping to gain a clue as to the thief's identity, or to use the special card later in the game when it may be of considerable help in catching the suspected thief. As a player, the essence of a winning strategy lies in the ability to discern an opposing player's tactics without betraying your own.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a parlor game with a winning strategy which involves the skillful utilization of playing position and playing cards against other players in such a manner as to require reliance on the elements of both skill and chance.